Severn Valley Railway stalwart bows out in style
GWR ‘28XX’ No. 2857, a popular member of the Severn Valley Railway (SVR) steam loco fleet, worked its last train for the foreseeable future on January 2, its boiler certificate having come to an end.
The 2-8-0’s owning group, The 2857 Society, arranged for a train to be formed of 10 coaches, a load of approximately 320 tons. Formed up of nine of the SVR’s GWR carriages, plus a BR Mk.1 kitchen car, 102 diners boarded the ‘Severn Valley Limited’ dining train for a three-course meal as the locomotive made its final 32-mile round trip of the railway. The other seven coaches were filled with regular SVR passengers and that portion of the train was full and standing for the entire day.
Since its last major overhaul in 2011, No. 2857 frequently recorded the highest annual mileage of any steam loco on the SVR, having reached a total well in excess of 100,000 miles since its rescue from Woodham’s scrapyard in 1974.
Both No. 2857 and No. 1501 (see separate story) now await an overhaul at a suitable date to be defined by Severn Valley Railway (Holdings) and Severn Valley Railway (Guarantee Company) and as it stands neither company has made any plans or commitment for any overhauls to commence in the near future.
Harry Bradley, social media trustee at The 2857 Society, said: “It was fantastic to be able to give the locomotive one final send off before its boiler ticket runs out. We raised just under £2000 in donations and raffle sales, which is another nice chunk of cash towards the overhaul. We are thankful to everyone for their contribution and involvement in making the final day a success.”
Fans of No. 2857 may wish to reserve their copy of a forthcoming video by emailing harry.bradley@svrlive.com. Due for release from September in time for the Autumn Steam Gala, ‘From the Footplate’ was recorded with six cameras mounted on
No. 2857. The two-disc production will be available at £14.95 in DVD format and £17.95 in Blu-Ray format. Each copy sold will raise money for the loco’s future overhaul.